Mary Ingles was 23, happily married, and pregnant with her third child when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement in 1755 and kidnapped her, leaving behind a bloody massacre. For months they held her captive. But nothing could imprison her spirit. With the rushing Ohio River as her guide, Mary Ingles walked one thousand miles through an untamed wilderness no white woman had ever seen.

People who bought this also bought...

Centennial: A Novel

Written to commemorate the Bicentennial in 1976, James A. Michener's magnificent saga of the West is an enthralling celebration of the frontier. Brimming with the glory of America's past, the story of Colorado - the Centennial State - is manifested through its people: Lame Beaver, the Arapaho chieftain and warrior, and his Comanche and Pawnee enemies; Levi Zendt, fleeing with his child bride from the Amish country; and the cowboy, Jim Lloyd, who falls in love with a wealthy and cultured Englishwoman, Charlotte Seccombe.

Saint Patrick's Battalion: A Novel

Here is a stirring fictional account of the amazing real-life story of John Riley, an Irishman who led his men to desert the American military during the Mexican-American War, as seen through the eyes of two memorable narrators. It is June 1845, and Paddy Quinn is a camp boy for the American army  which is bound for Mexico. A young man with journalistic aspirations, Paddy writes letters for illiterate soldiers and learns that, like him, many are Irish, including the enigma John Riley.

The Long Way Home: A Secret Refuge Series # 3

When a disastrous decision by the trainmaster forces Jesselynn Highwood and her companions to separate from the wagon train, she races back to Fort Laramie to find a guide to take them to Oregon. But the guide has a far different plan, and following her heart, Jesselynn agrees to join him, her ragtag band in tow. Back east, Louisa Highwood and her brother, Zachary, are captured by Union soldiers for smuggling medical supplies into Richmond.

The Lost Wife: A Novel

In pre-war Prague, the dreams of two young lovers are shattered when they are separated by the Nazi invasion. Then, decades later, thousands of miles away in New York, there's an inescapable glance of recognition between two strangers. Providence is giving Lenka and Josef one more chance. From the glamorous ease of life in Prague before the Occupation, to the horrors of Nazi Europe, The Lost Wife explores the power of first love, the resilience of the human spirit, and the strength of memory.

Wildflower Hill

In 1920s Glasgow, Beattie Blaxland falls pregnant to her married lover Henry just before her nineteenth birthday. Abandoned by her family, Beattie and Henry set sail for a new life in Australia. In 2009, London, prima ballerina Lydia Blaxland-Hunter is also discovering that life can also have its ups and downs. Unable to dance again after a fall, Lydia returns home to Australia to recuperate.

Wonderland Creek

Six-time Christy Award winner Lynn Austin has won a loyal following for her inspiring historical fiction. In Wonderland Creek, young Chicago-area librarian Alice Grace Ripley is left heartbroken when her fiancé breaks up with her just as the Great Depression forces her out of a job. To escape the local gossip, Alice volunteers to deliver donated books to a library in rural Kentucky. There she discovers that God still has a plan for her after all.

The Elephant Whisperer: My Life with the Herd in the African Wild

>When South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony was asked to accept a herd of "rogue" wild elephants on his Thula Thula game reserve in Zululand, his common sense told him to refuse. But he was the herd's last chance of survival: they would be killed if he wouldn't take them. In order to save their lives, Anthony took them in. In the years that followed he became a part of their family. And as he battled to create a bond with the elephants, he came to realize that they had a great deal to teach him about life, loyalty, and freedom.

Star Bright

New York Times best-selling author Catherine Anderson whisks listeners away to Oregon for a suspense-filled romance. Faking her own death to escape her murderous husband, Rainie takes refuge in the rural community of Crystal Falls, where she finds work as a bookkeeper on a horse ranch run by Parker Harrigan. But as their initial attraction blossoms, Rainie fears she can’t continue to elude the man who has sworn to kill her - and that her mere presence could jeopardize everything the Harrigan family holds dear.

A Town Like Alice

Jean Paget is just twenty years old and working in Malaya when the Japanese invasion begins. When she is captured she joins a group of other European women and children whom the Japanese force to march for miles through the jungle. While on the march, the group run into some Australian prisoners, one of whom, Joe Harman, helps them steal some food, and is horrifically punished by the Japanese as a result.

A Place to Call Home

Twenty years ago, Claire Maloney was the willful, pampered, tomboyish daughter of the town's most respected family, but that didn't stop her from befriending Roan Sullivan, a fierce, motherless boy who lived in a rusted-out trailer amid junked cars. No one in Dunderry, Georgia - least of all Claire's family - could understand the bond between these two mavericks. But Roan and Claire belonged together...until the dark afternoon when violence and terror overtook them, and Roan disappeared from Claire's life.

A Serpent's Tooth: A Walt Longmire Mystery, Book 9

In this ninth installment in the award-winning and New York Times best-selling Walt Longmire mystery series, the Wyoming sheriff follows his cowboy code of ethics in a religious range war that strikes a little too close to home.

Flanagan’s Run

During the Depression the ebullient American entrepreneur Charles Flanagan assembles 2,000 runners from all corners of the earth, to run from Los Angeles to New York for prize-money of $150,000. Flanagan’s Trans-America runners face 3,000 miles, across the Mojave desert and the frozen Rockies, running a daily average of 50 miles for three months.

The Color of Heaven

A deeply emotional tale about Sophie Duncan, a successful columnist whose world falls apart after her daughter's unexpected illness and her husband's shocking affair. When it seems nothing else could possibly go wrong, her car skids off an icy road and plunges into a frozen lake. There, in the cold, dark depths of the water a profound and extraordinary experience unlocks the surprising secrets from Sophie's past, and teaches her what it means to truly live...and love.

Golden Earrings

Catalina, grand-daughter of Spanish refugees, is a disciplined student with the School of the Paris Opera Ballet. Little gets inthe way of her career until the visit of an otherworldly being, who leaves her a mysterious pair of golden earrings. Given a quest, Catalina realises she must explore her own Spanish heritage and makes the connection between the visitor and ‘La Rusa’, a young Andalusian flamenco star. La Rusa died in exile in Paris in 1952, her death ruled as suicide. But as Catalina begins to discover, there were those in the community, who had good reason for wanting La Rusa dead.

Midnight Bayou

Declan Fitzgerald had always been the family maverick, but even he couldn't understand his impulse to buy a dilapidated mansion on the outskirts of New Orleans. All he knew was that ever since he saw Manet Hall, he'd been enchanted - and obsessed - with it. So when the opportunity to buy the house comes up Declan jumps at the chance to live out a dream.

Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times

At the age of 22, Jennifer Worth left her comfortable home to move into a convent and become a midwife in postwar London’s East End slums. The colorful characters she met while delivering babies all over London - from the plucky, warm-hearted nuns with whom she lived to the woman with 24 children who couldn't speak English to the prostitutes and dockers of the city’s seedier side - illuminate a fascinating time in history.

Speaks the Nightbird

The Carolinas, 1699: The citizens of Fount Royal believe a witch has cursed their town with inexplicable tragedies -- and they demand that beautiful widow Rachel Howarth be tried and executed for witchcraft. Presiding over the trial is traveling magistrate Issac Woodward, aided by his astute young clerk, Matthew Corbett. Believing in Rachel's innocence, Matthew will soon confront the true evil at work in Fount Royal....

Nothing but the Truth

When San Francisco attorney Dismas Hardy gets a call saying his wife never picked the kids up from school, he's worried. Frannie's a great mother. Turns out there's a good explanation: She's in jail. Unbeknownst to her husband, Frannie has just appeared before a grand jury - and refused to share a crucial piece of information about her friend Ron, who's accused of killing his wife.

Sycamore Row

Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three years earlier. The second will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his ability to think clearly?

Ordinary Grace

Award-winning author William Kent Krueger has gained an immense fan base for his Cork O’Connor series. In Ordinary Grace, Krueger looks back to 1961 to tell the story of Frank Drum, a boy on the cusp of manhood. A typical 13-year-old with a strong, loving family, Frank is devastated when a tragedy forces him to face the unthinkable - and to take on a maturity beyond his years.

Suspect

LAPD cop Scott James is not doing so well, not since a shocking nighttime assault by unidentified men killed his partner, Stephanie, nearly killed him, and left him enraged, ashamed, and ready to explode. He is unfit for duty - until he meets his new partner. Maggie is not doing so well, either. The German shepherd survived three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan sniffing explosives before she lost her handler to an IED and sniper attack, and her PTSD is as bad as Scott’s. They are each other’s last chance.

Falling Glass

Richard Coulter is a man who has everything. His beautiful new wife is pregnant, his upstart airline is undercutting the competition and moving from strength to strength, his diversification into the casino business in Macau has been successful, and his fabulous Art Deco house on an Irish cliff top has just been featured in Architectural Digest. But then, for some reason, his ex-wife Rachel doesn’t keep her side of the custody agreement and vanishes off the face of the earth with Richard’s two daughters. Richard hires Killian, a formidable ex-enforcer for the IRA, to track her down before Rachel, a recovering drug addict, harms herself or the girls.

600 Hours of Edward

A 39-year-old with Asperger’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder, Edward Stanton lives alone on a rigid schedule in the Montana town where he grew up. His carefully constructed routine includes tracking his most common waking time (7:38 a.m.), refusing to start his therapy sessions even a minute before the appointed hour (10:00 a.m.), and watching one episode of the 1960s cop show Dragnet each night (10:00 p.m.). But when a single mother and her nine-year-old son move in across the street, Edward’s timetable comes undone....

Heft

Forrmer academic Arthur Opp weighs 550 pounds and hasn’t left his rambling Brooklyn home in a decade. Twenty miles away in Yonkers, seventeen-year-old Kel Keller navigates life as the poor kid in a rich school and pins his hopes on what seems like a promising baseball career - if he can untangle himself from his family drama.

Publisher's Summary

Mary Ingles was 23, happily married, and pregnant with her third child when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement in 1755 and kidnapped her, leaving behind a bloody massacre. For months they held her captive. But nothing could imprison her spirit.

With the rushing Ohio River as her guide, Mary Ingles walked one thousand miles through an untamed wilderness no white woman had ever seen. Her story lives on - extraordinary testimony to the indomitable strength of one pioneer woman who risked her life to return to her own people.

I read the written version of this book about 15 years ago and it was one that stayed with me. Some books are read and forgotten, this is one I guarantee you will not soon forget. I was so happy when I found the audio version (unabridged thank goodness), because every step of Mary Ingles journey is detailed. Not necessarily for the faint of heart or one who insists on being politically correct. It shows the savagery of the indians but also gives some insight as to why. If you are a history buff you will definately enjoy this book. David Drummond was very good as the narrator. As you can see I have given it five stars....I will definately listen to it again.

James Alexander Thom is an amazing writer. I have read everything he has written. This book is one of his best. It is a story about a woman who is abducted from her homestead by Indians. The main character, Mary Ingles, experiences unbelievable physical and mental hardships but manages to survive because she kept her head and out thought her captors. The thing that makes this books so remarkable is that it is a true story. I won't say more and give away the plot. Just get this book, you won't regret it! Then look for Thom's "Long Knife" which is just as good or even better.

This is one of my all time favorite audible listens, for many reasons. The fact that it is a true, amazing survival tale and speaks to the limits of endurance that a person can be capable of, is astonishing, (especially considering that the main characters in this odyssey are women)! The authors ability to take known facts about this arduous adventure in history and embelish them with a wonderful narrative is really a beautiful thing. And the narrator himself does a fantastic job with the differing accents and nuances of the characters speech. He does his job so well that you barely know that he is there, you get so caught up in this amazing story. If you have never heard of this tale set in the early American frontier, you are in store for an amazing journey! A really, really great listen!

What a great story! This is the story of Mary Ingles who was captured by Shawnee Indians around 1750. Without giving anything away, she escapes and follows the New River home to West Virginia some 500 miles on foot in winter without supplies. A great tale of perseverance, love and determination with lots of action. I was so surprised at the end when listening to the Author's Note to learn that this was (basically) a true story. Warning - there are some very violent, detailed descriptions of Indian attacks on settlers that will be too gruesome for some readers.

Far too many writers tell, not show. Thom shows you exactly what Mary's seeing. You feel her physical pains and mental anguish, you think you can reach out and touch her to give her a hug Thom puts you in the scene so well. Of course it helps to have interesting material as well! If you like this book, you'll love Lucia St. Clair Robson's Ride the Wind. It's also historical fiction... about another strong brave woman, Cynthia Ann Parker. Loved the narrator for this version also! I fear I won't be able to find another audiobook to measure up!

Can I give this negative stars? I wish I could. It doesn't belong in History or Historical Fiction. The way the author has treated this story makes it a good candidate for Romance. This book is based on the true story of one of history's most remarkable survivors. That the author found a need to put bodice ripper crap in it is criminal.

I would really love to see a serious non-fiction writer do this subject justice. Cut it by half, skip all the crap and go for facts. Mary Draper Ingles was an amazing woman. Someone needs to really tell her story. And when you're done, get a different narrator.

This is an engaging fictionalization of a true story of the American frontier. I was engaged by the story and reading. Finishing the book, I looked for information on the true events and found that they were remarkably similar to the fictionalized version. This is truly an incredible tale of courage and determination. Well worth the read.

Retired CFO, Army wife, Mom of five, Grandma of six, two sons who served in combat, love to read books that reflect my values and faith, love mysteries, historical, military stories, and books that don't waste my time . . . if it doesn't have an ending that was worth the wait, I'm not a happy camper.

This novel comes from the true story of Mary Ingles, a young wife and mother in Virginia who was captured by the Shawnee Indians in 1755 and kept prisoner, along with her two young sons, and her sister-in-law. After killing many in her small settlement and burning them out, the Indians captured them and took them along the treacherous trails that would wind around the rivers until they would reach Big Bone Lick in what is now Kentucky. The trip, even on horseback, traveling to the salt lick with the Indians was frightening and dangerous, and Mary, who gave birth to a baby girl along the way, feared she would die. I was absolutely fascinated by this tale . . . having been born in the state of Kentucky and visited Big Bone Lick for myself . . . and having driven many times along the Ohio River which borders between Kentucky and Indiana, and Kentucky and Ohio . . . It is a giant, wide river that feeds into the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois. And equally amazing to me, as I have a son who lives in Virginia, and I frequently DRIVE the long drive over the mountains (so beautiful beneath the rising sunlight . . . I agree with Mary Ingles), is that any person, much less a woman could muster up the courage to drudge through that terrain to get home. The narration of this book is perfect, the thoughtfulness of the author in determining exactly what these two woman must have encountered during their horrendous journey is spot on , and the way in which he portrays their wide array of emotions is to be applauded. I cannot recommend it enough.

I am amazed that in the 1700's a young girl and an old woman could actually cross the wild frontier that none other but the Native Americans had done before them. The story of Mary Ingles is riveting. She is strong, kind, and focused. Her relationship with Gretta is at times wonderful and at others quite intense. I like to read period books, and while this one was written in the 1980s, it was taken from a real person from the colonial times. I am sure that it is not all factual, but still an amazing story. Read it, you won't be sorry.

Wow! What a story! I was completely caught up in this story for most of the book. I was a bit surprised to find, after I had read the whole thing, that this story is based on fact. That makes it all the more amazing. Mr. Thom did so much great research on this story and then put together a compelling work of fact fleshed out by his own imagination. He lost me a little bit when the character Mary climbed over mountains for several days in a row stark naked in freezing weather with no food. I kept thinking, "If it is so cold that a rock cannot be budged from the frozen ground, surely this naked woman cannot survive for more than several hours without any kind of shelter and no food for any kind of energy." But survive she did. I also found myself thinking that with a river running right by her and a whole forest on both sides, surely a woman as smart and resourceful as she was could figure out a way to find food, start a fire (although understandably she did not want to so she wouldn't be found) and make herself some kind of covering. But even with that inconsistency, I really enjoyed the story. **Semi-spoiler alert:** I do have to add that I understand why she left, but will never understand how she could leave her children. Perhaps she intended to go back after them, but that did not happen.

Your report has been received. It will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.

Can't wait to hear more from this listener?

You can now follow your favorite reviewers on Audible.

When you follow another listener, we'll highlight the books they review, and even email* you a copy of any new reviews they write. You can un-follow a listener at any time to stop receiving their updates.

* If you already opted out of emails from Audible you will still get review emails by the listeners you follow.